[PG-13] Caught in Between (2/25)
Title: Caught in Between
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Donghae watched as Jessica arrived in the library, her boyfriend in tow. He sighed in annoyance. He’d been waiting for nearly 30 minutes for her. He had the bad luck of being assigned to be her tutor. Of all people… When she finally got to kiss her boyfriend goodbye, she started looking for him. He waved at her.
“Hey,” Jessica said, placing her bag on the table and taking a seat across him. “Can we make this quick? I have an appointment.”
“If you were here on time, we would’ve been nearly done,” Donghae said pointedly, flipping through his math textbook.
“Listen, Donghwa,” she quipped.
“Donghae,” he corrected her.
“Whatever,” she dismissed. “I hate this as much as you do so can we just pretend we met today and get it over with?”
“Fine with me,” he said.
“Fine,” she shot back.
They were both getting ready to leave when a teacher arrived. “Just where do you two think you’re going? Donghae, aren’t you supposed to be tutoring her?”
“She was late,” Donghae answered childishly.
“And he’s being unreasonable,” Jessica growled.
“Stop it,” the teacher said. “I don’t care what your issues are with each other. Work it out.” The teacher then left after giving both of them a warning about this affecting their grades and a stern look.
Jessica sighed. Realizing that she would be on the losing end, she began, “Look, Donghwa --.”
“Donghae,” he corrected her again.
“Whatever. I think we started out on the wrong foot. I’m sorry,” she said, trying to be as nice as she could.
“Right,” he agreed. “I’m sorry, too. Let’s begin?” Jessica nodded.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
“Thanks for the ride,” Taeyeon said, getting out of the car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Eunhyuk asked.
“It’s alright. Go out with your friends. Have a life,” she said, shooing him away. Sometimes she thought Eunhyuk took care of her too much that he forgot about his other friends already.
He laughed. “Alright Bye.” He drove away.
Taeyeon turned around and walked in the building. “Hi Taeyeon!” a nurse greeted. “Are you here to see your grandma?” She nodded. “Come with me. We transferred her to another room.”
“Why?” Taeyeon asked, surprised. “I thought she wasn’t going to be transferred anymore.”
“There were some new guests who came in today and we needed the room,” the nurse apologetically explained.
When they reached the new room, Taeyeon saw that it was much smaller than the last one. Her grandmother had Alzheimer’s. Staying in this home was expensive, but Eunhyuk’s parents pulled in a favor so she was in some sort of a financial assistance package. They moved her in different rooms once in a while whenever necessary.
“She’s in a good state today,” the nurse told her.
“Hi granny,” Taeyeon said, walking over to her bed.
Her grandmother looked at her and smiled. “Taeyeon?”
“Yes, granny,” Taeyeon said, reaching for her hand. She smiled happily. “How are you today?” Her grandmother nodded. “Sunny’s coming over tomorrow. She’s just taking care of some schoolwork. I brought you some fruits.” She held up a fruit basket and placed it on the table at the end of the bed.
“School?” granny asked.
“Good,” Taeyeon answered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You know me and Sunny, always doing well in school.”
“Who’s Sunny?” granny asked.
“Sunny’s my twin, gran,” Taeyeon answered.
“Ah,” granny responded.
“Eunhyuk and Sungmin are doing well, too,” Taeyeon went on. Granny looked at her. “They’re my and Sunny’s best friends. We grew up together. You love them. They’re great guys. They’re always looking after us. Heechul oppa’s doing well, too. He’s doing well in college. He’s actually so busy these days. But he never forgets to check on me and Sunny. I think he’s more protective now than before. Maybe because we don’t see him as much.”
Suddenly, granny pointed out of the window. Taeyeon asked a nurse if she could bring her to the garden to get some fresh air. Soon they were outside.
“Are you comfortable, granny?” Taeyeon asked, placing a blanket on her lap. Granny nodded. “This is nice, isn’t it?” She pushed granny’s wheelchair beside a bench situated under a big tree. Taeyeon sat down.
“How’s my son?” granny suddenly asked.
Taeyeon looked at her, wondering how to answer. Her parents were divorced. She never saw him or heard from him since he left them when she was 10. “He’s doing well, granny,” she lied.
“Why doesn’t he visit?” she asked.
“He’s just busy with work,” Taeyeon told her, touching her hand. “I’m sure he’ll visit soon.” She turned to her. “How about we have a picnic, gran? Would you like that? I’ll talk to mom and Heechul oppa about it. I’m sure they would be excited.”
“Taeyeonah.”
Taeyeon looked up and saw Sunny approaching. “Hey,” Taeyeon greeted back, waving. “I thought you weren’t coming today.”
“I finished early,” Sunny said. “Hi granny!” Sunny leaned and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m Sunny.”
“Sunny,” granny repeated, smiling a little.
Sunny sat down beside Taeyeon. “What’s up?”
“She asked about dad,” Taeyeon told her quietly.
“You alright?” Sunny asked, glancing at her twin. Between the two of them, Taeyeon was the daddy’s girl.
Taeyeon nodded. “I told her I’d talk to you guys about having a picnic here.”
“That’s great!” Sunny said, clapping her hands. “I’m sure omma and oppa would agree. How about we bring Sungmin and Eunhyuk, too?”
“I’m surprised Sungmin isn’t here now,” Taeyeon said, chuckling.
“He’s in the lobby,” Sunny informed her. “He’s our ride home.” Suddenly, she turned serious. “I have something to tell you.”
“What?” Taeyeon asked, looking at her expectantly. “Is something wrong?” Sunny hesitated. “Well what is it? I’m dying of suspense,” Taeyeon prodded.
“Sungmin’s going on a date with Yoona,” Sunny declared, staring at the ground.
“What?! Why?” Taeyeon reacted.
Sunny didn’t know what to say. “Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were teasing him about Yoona?”
“Don’t tell me he took that seriously,” Taeyeon said in disbelief.
“Well, she asked him out. But he said yes because he said that he just wanted to see if anything was there, if it was possible,” Sunny relayed. “Can you believe it?”
“I know. Yoona!? Really?! What is he thinking?” Taeyeon shook her head. She turned to her twin, who looked even more upset than she was. Putting an arm around her, she said, “After all these years of being friends with her, I can’t believe he’d like her now. She and her friends are at the peak of their evilness.” Sunny smiled faintly. “Does Eunhyuk know about this?”
“I’m not sure,” Sunny answered.
“Well what did you say when he told you?” Taeyeon inquired.
“I said it was great of course,” Sunny shared. “I mean he hadn’t dated anyone in a while.”
“Sunny,” Taeyeon groaned. “You should’ve told him it was a bad idea.”
“I can’t do that,” Sunny said, shaking her head.
“Why not? You tell him off on everything,” Taeyeon reminded her.
“Well not this time, not in this case.” Sunny looked straight ahead.
Taeyeon sighed. “I suppose sooner or later they would start dating each other.” Although she secretly felt weird about the whole thing. She always thought that Sungmin liked Sunny.
“Eunhyuk would never go out with one of them,” Sunny said.
“That’s not quite true,” Taeyeon said hesitantly.
“What?” Sunny looked at her.
“He went out with Sooyoung like two years ago,” Taeyeon revealed.
“Choi Sooyoung?” Sunny repeated in confusion.
“The very same,” Taeyeon confirmed.
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Sunny demanded. “How did it go?”
“She got to his nerves because she was overly controlling and it seemed that all she wanted to do was make out with him,” Taeyeon said, fighting back a laugh.
“Well he does have luscious lips,” Sunny responded absentmindedly.
“Sunnyah!” Taeyeon burst into a fit of giggles.
“What?” Sunny said, bursting into laughter as well. “Don’t tell me you never thought about it. Eunhyuk has one of the most luscious lips I’ve seen. That’s a fact. Ask anyone in school.”
“I’d rather not,” Taeyeon declined, still laughing. She turned to granny, who was nearly falling asleep. She stood up. “We should get granny back to her room.”
When granny had fallen asleep, Sunny and Taeyeon went to the lobby, where Sungmin was waiting. He was on the phone. He stood up when he saw them and gestured at them to follow him to the parking lot.
“Alright,” Sungmin was saying. “I’ll see you later then. Bye.” He ended the call when they reached the car.
Inside, in the backseat, Taeyeon asked, “Who were you talking to?”
“Yoona,” Sungmin answered, starting the engine and driving. Sunny looked out of the window of the passenger’s seat.
“I hear you guys are going out on a date,” Taeyeon went on.
Sungmin glanced at Sunny then looked at Taeyeon through the rearview mirror. “Yeah, tonight,” he informed her. “Why?”
“Nothing. Enjoy!” Taeyeon said cheerfully.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Tiffany entered the library, looking around. She needed to borrow a history book. She checked the librarian’s desk, but there wasn’t anyone there so she decided to browse the shelves. As she was browsing, someone bumped into her from behind and the books that she was holding fell to the floor.
“I’m so sorry.” He helped pick up her books.
“It’s you,” Tiffany said with a smile as she got her books from him. He shyly smiled back at her. “I’m Tiffany.”
“I know. I’m Siwon,” he offered, fixing his glasses.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said happily.
“You too,” he agreed. “I’m sorry for bumping into you.”
“It’s fine. I wasn’t looking either. I’m not sure if these books will be any use anyway,” she told him.
“What are you looking for?” Siwon wanted to know.
“Books about world war I and II,” Tiffany answered.
“I can help you,” he suggested quietly.
“That would be great,” she declared. She followed him to another shelf.
“Is this for a history paper?” Siwon asked as he looked through some books.
“Yeah,” Tiffany told him. “Actually, a friend of mine and I are partners - Jessica - I don’t know if you know her. We’re doing research in a while since she’s still in tutoring right now.”
“Ah,” Siwon responded. He knew Jessica as well. He was sure that everyone knew them and their group of friends. “Well, this should help you.” He showed her two thick, hardbound books. Tiffany held out her hands to carry them. “Are you going to read it here?”
“Yeah, I was planning to look through them,” she said. So he carried them to a nearby table. “Thank you so much for your help!”
He smiled. “No problem.”
“Fany, there you are,” Jessica said, walking over to her. Apparently, the table she and Donghae were tutoring at was right beside them. “Who’s that?”
“This is --,” Tiffany began.
“I don’t care. Let’s go,” Jessica said, pulling her away.
“But I thought we were going to do research. I got these books and --,” Tiffany told her.
“I’m sick of the library. We can do research somewhere else,” Jessica said impatiently, grabbing her arm.
Tiffany looked apologetically at Siwon, who merely smiled, and followed Jessica out of the library. Donghae stood up and walked over to Siwon.
“What were you doing talking to her?” Donghae asked.
“She needed help finding some books,” Siwon explained.
“Really?” Donghae asked in amazement.
Siwon laughed.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
“Come on, Taeng!” Sunny insisted, grabbing onto her arm like a two year old.
“Sunny, you know I’m not a fan of parties,” Taeyeon reminded her. They were in the kitchen, making sandwiches for their picnic that afternoon.
Sunny pouted. “You know I can’t go if you don’t go.”
“I’m sure oppa would agree if Eunhyuk and Sungmin would be there,” Taeyeon said. Their mom usually allowed them to go out. It was Heechul oppa they were afraid of. He usually doesn’t let them go to parties and such unless they’re together and unless they’re with Eunhyuk and Sungmin.
“It won’t be that fun without you,” Sunny then said.
Taeyeon laughed. “Since when was I a fun companion at parties? I’ll talk to oppa for you if you want.”
“Talk to me about what?” Heechul asked, walking in. He gave both of them a kiss on the head.
“Sunny wants to go to a party tomorrow,” Taeyeon shared. “But I don’t want to go.”
“You know the rule,” Heechul told Sunny.
“Oppa,” Sunny said, turning on her aegyo. “Sungmin and Eunhyuk will be there. And you know how protective they are.”
Heechul looked as though he was considering it. “No. Unless Taengoo’s going, you’re not going.”
Sunny looked at Taeyeon with cute, puppy eyes. “Please, Taengoo,” she pleaded as cutely and sincerely as she could.
Taeyeon sighed. “Please don’t do this to me.” She could never resist it when Sunny did that.
“Pleeeeeeease!” Sunny continued.
“Why do you want to go so badly?” Taeyeon grumbled.
“I just want to,” Sunny answered quietly. Then she brightened up again. “So does this mean you’re going?”
Heechul watched in amusement as Taeyeon nodded her head reluctantly. His two sisters really could never resist each other’s requests. Sunny squealed in delight and hugged her sister. Taeyeon laughed.
“Alright then,” Heechul said. “You’re both going. Whose party is it?”
Sunny hesitated. “Just someone from school.” Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at her. When they were upstairs, Taeyeon went into Sunny’s room and asked whose party is was. “Yoona’s.”
“Im Yoona?!” Taeyeon repeated in surprise. Sunny nodded. “Why are we going to her party?”
“Because Sungmin was so excited about it,” Sunny answered. “I want to be there.”
“Are you sure we can go? I mean, are we invited?” Taeyeon asked carefully.
“It’s an open party,” Sunny said simply.
“Does Sungmin know we’re going?” Taeyeon then wanted to know.
“Yes,” Sunny told her. “Eunhyuk’s picking us up at 7.”
“Huh. You were pretty sure that I was coming, weren’t you?” Taeyeon muttered, sitting on the bed.
Sunny smiled. “I need you there, Taeng.”
“Fine fine,” Taeyeon said, standing up. “I hope we don’t regret going.”
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Sunny clapped as soon as they got out of Eunhyuk’s car. They had just arrived at the location of the party, Yoona’s humongous house.
“The lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Taeyeon commented. She turned to Eunhyuk. “How come your house isn’t this nice?”
Eunhyuk laughed. “Very funny. I still can’t believe you’re here,” he said as they entered.
“You and I both,” she said, looking around. As expected, queenkas and kingkas were all present.
“Eunhyukkie! Sungminah!” Shindong greeted, slapping them on their backs. “Hi Taeyeon, Sunny!”
“Hi,” Taeyeon said politely. Sunny smiled.
“Have you seen Yoona?” Sungmin asked Shindong.
“I think she’s by the pool,” Shindong said.
“I’ll look for her,” Sungmin told them and left to Sunny’s surprise.
“Drinks?” Shindong offered as a waiter carrying a tray of drinks passed by.
Taeyeon got one when Eunhyuk stopped her. “You can get a drink at the bar,” Eunhyuk told her, taking the drink for himself.
“The bar’s over there,” Shindong said. “I’ll look for Hankyung. See you guys around.” He left.
“I can handle one drink,” Taeyeon told him as they went to the bar.
“It’s better to drink something that you’ve seen done in front of you,” Eunhyuk told her. “This is a party. You don’t know what’s in that drink.”
Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “I know what happens at parties.”
“Not these kinds of parties,” Eunhyuk said calmly.
“You guys carry on,” Sunny suddenly said. “I’ll look for Sungmin.” She walked away without waiting for a response.
Taeyeon sighed. “I have a feeling things are not going to go well.”
“What do you mean?” Eunhyuk wanted to know.
“Sunny’s here because she wants to watch after Sungmin and Yoona,” she shared.
“Why?” he asked incredulously.
“Well ever since their date, it seems that things are going well between them,” she stated. “I think… Sunny’s jealous.”
He sighed. “I really don’t know what has gotten into Sungmin. I thought he liked Sunny. And out of all of them, why Yoona?”
“Look who’s talking,” she interjected. “You dated Sooyoung.” She chuckled.
“Yes and I learned my lesson,” he responded. “I’m not dating any one of them anymore.”
“What about Yuri? You’re going to break her heart,” she teased. Eunhyuk merely smirked. “Seriously,” Taeyeon went on. “I think you should give her a chance.”
“What?” Eunhyuk said, shocked.
“Why not?” she persisted. “She seems really nice. She made an effort to get to know you better by hanging out with your friends. That was very brave of her.”
“She’s exactly like them,” he declared.
“I don’t think so,” she said thoughtfully. “Besides, I think she sincerely likes you a lot. She’s making a lot of effort to get you to notice her.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head. “My best friend wants me to date a queenka.”
“Well you are a kingka,” she pointed out, smiling. “It’s perfect.” He shook his head in disbelief. “She’s coming over. Good luck!” she cheered, patting his arm and leaving.
“Hey,” Eunhyuk called after her.
“Where’s Taeyeon going?” Yuri asked, surprised at her departure.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Sunny walked around the house, looking for Sungmin. She knew he would probably be with Yoona, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to see for herself how they were together. In school, they didn’t show any affection towards each other. It was still unbelievable to her that they were going out. What’s even weirder was how Sungmin never talked to her about their relationship. He merely shrugged or laughed when she asked him about it.
“Are you alright?”
Sunny stopped and looked around. She realized that she was on the second floor of the house, where there weren’t many people around. “I’m fine,” she said when Shindong asked her again.
“You look lost,” Shindong commented. “Are you looking for someone?”
Sunny smiled sheepishly. “I’m looking for Sungmin actually.”
“He’s downstairs,” he said. “Come with me.”
Sunny followed Shindong downstairs and into one of the rooms. There was a billiard table and a separate bar. She saw Sungmin talking to Yoona by one of the windows.
“Do you want me to call him?” Shindong asked her.
“No it’s fine,” Sunny said, watching as Sungmin and Yoona laughed together. They seemed to be getting along really well, which completely surprised her. She knew they’d been friends for a long time. But she also knew that Sungmin was uncomfortable with their whole group because they all had attitude problems.
Shindong watched Sunny watch Sungmin and Yoona. “You don’t look good,” he told her.
Sunny turned to him and smiled cheerfully. “I’m fine. Thanks for bringing me here! See you later!” She turned and left the room.
“Hey, where are you going?” Shindong asked, following her. “Weren’t you looking for Sungmin?”
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Kyuhyun laughed as some guys did a crazy dance on top of one of the tables in the veranda. Of course Yoona came sauntering afterwards, making them come down and scolding them.
“Ya Kyu!” Hankyung said, handing him another drink. “Drink some more.”
“I’m fine,” Kyuhyun said, rejecting his offer.
“You look bored,” Jessica observed.
“Yeah, you’re not drinking,” Hankyung said, putting an arm around Jessica.
“I’m alright,” Kyuhyun said. “Where’s Eunhyuk?” he asked Yuri.
Yuri sighed. “I don’t know. I was talking to him and then he disappeared.”
“He’s probably looking for his best friend,” Yoona quipped.
“Alright, you kids just keep on talking amongst yourselves. Sica and I are going somewhere.” Jessica giggled as Hankyung led her away from them.
They then began another discussion on Eunhyuk’s friendship with his best friend when Kyuhyun saw Taeyeon, sitting by herself on the poolside. He excused himself and quietly walked over to her.
“This is a party. You shouldn’t be by yourself,” Kyuhyun said, standing behind her.
“Yeah, well I’m not much of a party person,” Taeyeon answered, even though she wasn’t sure if it was addressed to her.
He chuckled and crouched down beside her. “Why did you come then?”
She looked at him and surprise crossed her features. “I see even the math genius comes to these kinds of parties.”
Chuckling once more, he said, “I’m Kyuhyun.”
“Hmm, I think I prefer math genius better,” she said, smiling.
“You’re not going to tell me your name?” he asked after a couple of seconds of silence.
She laughed. “It’s Taeyeon. What are you doing out here?”
“Just needed to get some fresh air,” he said. “Did you come here alone?”
“I came with some friends,” she answered.
“Who?” he asked.
“Sunny, my sister and - you probably know them - Eunhyuk and Sungmin,” she said. He looked at her in surprise. “You look shocked.” She laughed. “I know it’s weird. They’re both kingkas and they’re best friends with me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “So you hang out with kingkas and queenkas a lot?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Not really. I’m not a fan of those groups.”
“How come?” he pressed.
Shrugging, she said, “I just think that they don’t take anything seriously. And they bully people. You probably know what they’re like. Everyone in school does.”
“Maybe they’re not all like that,” he suggested, watching her carefully.
“Well, Eunhyuk and Sungmin aren’t like that,” she admitted. “I don’t know about the rest of them. I hope I’m wrong.” She looked at him and smiled. “Sorry, I usually only rant like this with Eunhyuk.”
“No, it’s alright. Don’t apologize,” he dismissed, smiling a little. “It’s very refreshing.”
Taeyeon smiled. “How come I never see you around school?”
“Maybe you don’t look hard enough,” Kyuhyun said, chuckling a bit. “You and Eunhyuk must be very close.”
“We grew up together,” she shared. “He’s my best friend. Aside from my sister, of course.”
“Taeyeonah,” Sunny said, approaching them. “There you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She bowed politely at Kyuhyun.
“This is my twin, Sunny,” Taeyeon told Kyuhyun. “And this is Kyuhyun,” she said to Sunny.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kyuhyun said.
“Likewise,” Sunny said, glancing knowingly at Taeyeon.
Kyuhyun stood up. “I’d better get back to the party.” He turned to Taeyeon. “It was nice talking to you.” He smiled at both of them and left.
“So Kyuhyun’s his name,” Sunny said in a singsong voice, openly teasing Taeyeon.
“Stop it,” Taeyeon said, laughing.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Donghae watched as Jessica arrived in the library, her boyfriend in tow. He sighed in annoyance. He’d been waiting for nearly 30 minutes for her. He had the bad luck of being assigned to be her tutor. Of all people… When she finally got to kiss her boyfriend goodbye, she started looking for him. He waved at her.
“Hey,” Jessica said, placing her bag on the table and taking a seat across him. “Can we make this quick? I have an appointment.”
“If you were here on time, we would’ve been nearly done,” Donghae said pointedly, flipping through his math textbook.
“Listen, Donghwa,” she quipped.
“Donghae,” he corrected her.
“Whatever,” she dismissed. “I hate this as much as you do so can we just pretend we met today and get it over with?”
“Fine with me,” he said.
“Fine,” she shot back.
They were both getting ready to leave when a teacher arrived. “Just where do you two think you’re going? Donghae, aren’t you supposed to be tutoring her?”
“She was late,” Donghae answered childishly.
“And he’s being unreasonable,” Jessica growled.
“Stop it,” the teacher said. “I don’t care what your issues are with each other. Work it out.” The teacher then left after giving both of them a warning about this affecting their grades and a stern look.
Jessica sighed. Realizing that she would be on the losing end, she began, “Look, Donghwa --.”
“Donghae,” he corrected her again.
“Whatever. I think we started out on the wrong foot. I’m sorry,” she said, trying to be as nice as she could.
“Right,” he agreed. “I’m sorry, too. Let’s begin?” Jessica nodded.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
“Thanks for the ride,” Taeyeon said, getting out of the car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Eunhyuk asked.
“It’s alright. Go out with your friends. Have a life,” she said, shooing him away. Sometimes she thought Eunhyuk took care of her too much that he forgot about his other friends already.
He laughed. “Alright Bye.” He drove away.
Taeyeon turned around and walked in the building. “Hi Taeyeon!” a nurse greeted. “Are you here to see your grandma?” She nodded. “Come with me. We transferred her to another room.”
“Why?” Taeyeon asked, surprised. “I thought she wasn’t going to be transferred anymore.”
“There were some new guests who came in today and we needed the room,” the nurse apologetically explained.
When they reached the new room, Taeyeon saw that it was much smaller than the last one. Her grandmother had Alzheimer’s. Staying in this home was expensive, but Eunhyuk’s parents pulled in a favor so she was in some sort of a financial assistance package. They moved her in different rooms once in a while whenever necessary.
“She’s in a good state today,” the nurse told her.
“Hi granny,” Taeyeon said, walking over to her bed.
Her grandmother looked at her and smiled. “Taeyeon?”
“Yes, granny,” Taeyeon said, reaching for her hand. She smiled happily. “How are you today?” Her grandmother nodded. “Sunny’s coming over tomorrow. She’s just taking care of some schoolwork. I brought you some fruits.” She held up a fruit basket and placed it on the table at the end of the bed.
“School?” granny asked.
“Good,” Taeyeon answered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You know me and Sunny, always doing well in school.”
“Who’s Sunny?” granny asked.
“Sunny’s my twin, gran,” Taeyeon answered.
“Ah,” granny responded.
“Eunhyuk and Sungmin are doing well, too,” Taeyeon went on. Granny looked at her. “They’re my and Sunny’s best friends. We grew up together. You love them. They’re great guys. They’re always looking after us. Heechul oppa’s doing well, too. He’s doing well in college. He’s actually so busy these days. But he never forgets to check on me and Sunny. I think he’s more protective now than before. Maybe because we don’t see him as much.”
Suddenly, granny pointed out of the window. Taeyeon asked a nurse if she could bring her to the garden to get some fresh air. Soon they were outside.
“Are you comfortable, granny?” Taeyeon asked, placing a blanket on her lap. Granny nodded. “This is nice, isn’t it?” She pushed granny’s wheelchair beside a bench situated under a big tree. Taeyeon sat down.
“How’s my son?” granny suddenly asked.
Taeyeon looked at her, wondering how to answer. Her parents were divorced. She never saw him or heard from him since he left them when she was 10. “He’s doing well, granny,” she lied.
“Why doesn’t he visit?” she asked.
“He’s just busy with work,” Taeyeon told her, touching her hand. “I’m sure he’ll visit soon.” She turned to her. “How about we have a picnic, gran? Would you like that? I’ll talk to mom and Heechul oppa about it. I’m sure they would be excited.”
“Taeyeonah.”
Taeyeon looked up and saw Sunny approaching. “Hey,” Taeyeon greeted back, waving. “I thought you weren’t coming today.”
“I finished early,” Sunny said. “Hi granny!” Sunny leaned and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m Sunny.”
“Sunny,” granny repeated, smiling a little.
Sunny sat down beside Taeyeon. “What’s up?”
“She asked about dad,” Taeyeon told her quietly.
“You alright?” Sunny asked, glancing at her twin. Between the two of them, Taeyeon was the daddy’s girl.
Taeyeon nodded. “I told her I’d talk to you guys about having a picnic here.”
“That’s great!” Sunny said, clapping her hands. “I’m sure omma and oppa would agree. How about we bring Sungmin and Eunhyuk, too?”
“I’m surprised Sungmin isn’t here now,” Taeyeon said, chuckling.
“He’s in the lobby,” Sunny informed her. “He’s our ride home.” Suddenly, she turned serious. “I have something to tell you.”
“What?” Taeyeon asked, looking at her expectantly. “Is something wrong?” Sunny hesitated. “Well what is it? I’m dying of suspense,” Taeyeon prodded.
“Sungmin’s going on a date with Yoona,” Sunny declared, staring at the ground.
“What?! Why?” Taeyeon reacted.
Sunny didn’t know what to say. “Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were teasing him about Yoona?”
“Don’t tell me he took that seriously,” Taeyeon said in disbelief.
“Well, she asked him out. But he said yes because he said that he just wanted to see if anything was there, if it was possible,” Sunny relayed. “Can you believe it?”
“I know. Yoona!? Really?! What is he thinking?” Taeyeon shook her head. She turned to her twin, who looked even more upset than she was. Putting an arm around her, she said, “After all these years of being friends with her, I can’t believe he’d like her now. She and her friends are at the peak of their evilness.” Sunny smiled faintly. “Does Eunhyuk know about this?”
“I’m not sure,” Sunny answered.
“Well what did you say when he told you?” Taeyeon inquired.
“I said it was great of course,” Sunny shared. “I mean he hadn’t dated anyone in a while.”
“Sunny,” Taeyeon groaned. “You should’ve told him it was a bad idea.”
“I can’t do that,” Sunny said, shaking her head.
“Why not? You tell him off on everything,” Taeyeon reminded her.
“Well not this time, not in this case.” Sunny looked straight ahead.
Taeyeon sighed. “I suppose sooner or later they would start dating each other.” Although she secretly felt weird about the whole thing. She always thought that Sungmin liked Sunny.
“Eunhyuk would never go out with one of them,” Sunny said.
“That’s not quite true,” Taeyeon said hesitantly.
“What?” Sunny looked at her.
“He went out with Sooyoung like two years ago,” Taeyeon revealed.
“Choi Sooyoung?” Sunny repeated in confusion.
“The very same,” Taeyeon confirmed.
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Sunny demanded. “How did it go?”
“She got to his nerves because she was overly controlling and it seemed that all she wanted to do was make out with him,” Taeyeon said, fighting back a laugh.
“Well he does have luscious lips,” Sunny responded absentmindedly.
“Sunnyah!” Taeyeon burst into a fit of giggles.
“What?” Sunny said, bursting into laughter as well. “Don’t tell me you never thought about it. Eunhyuk has one of the most luscious lips I’ve seen. That’s a fact. Ask anyone in school.”
“I’d rather not,” Taeyeon declined, still laughing. She turned to granny, who was nearly falling asleep. She stood up. “We should get granny back to her room.”
When granny had fallen asleep, Sunny and Taeyeon went to the lobby, where Sungmin was waiting. He was on the phone. He stood up when he saw them and gestured at them to follow him to the parking lot.
“Alright,” Sungmin was saying. “I’ll see you later then. Bye.” He ended the call when they reached the car.
Inside, in the backseat, Taeyeon asked, “Who were you talking to?”
“Yoona,” Sungmin answered, starting the engine and driving. Sunny looked out of the window of the passenger’s seat.
“I hear you guys are going out on a date,” Taeyeon went on.
Sungmin glanced at Sunny then looked at Taeyeon through the rearview mirror. “Yeah, tonight,” he informed her. “Why?”
“Nothing. Enjoy!” Taeyeon said cheerfully.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Tiffany entered the library, looking around. She needed to borrow a history book. She checked the librarian’s desk, but there wasn’t anyone there so she decided to browse the shelves. As she was browsing, someone bumped into her from behind and the books that she was holding fell to the floor.
“I’m so sorry.” He helped pick up her books.
“It’s you,” Tiffany said with a smile as she got her books from him. He shyly smiled back at her. “I’m Tiffany.”
“I know. I’m Siwon,” he offered, fixing his glasses.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said happily.
“You too,” he agreed. “I’m sorry for bumping into you.”
“It’s fine. I wasn’t looking either. I’m not sure if these books will be any use anyway,” she told him.
“What are you looking for?” Siwon wanted to know.
“Books about world war I and II,” Tiffany answered.
“I can help you,” he suggested quietly.
“That would be great,” she declared. She followed him to another shelf.
“Is this for a history paper?” Siwon asked as he looked through some books.
“Yeah,” Tiffany told him. “Actually, a friend of mine and I are partners - Jessica - I don’t know if you know her. We’re doing research in a while since she’s still in tutoring right now.”
“Ah,” Siwon responded. He knew Jessica as well. He was sure that everyone knew them and their group of friends. “Well, this should help you.” He showed her two thick, hardbound books. Tiffany held out her hands to carry them. “Are you going to read it here?”
“Yeah, I was planning to look through them,” she said. So he carried them to a nearby table. “Thank you so much for your help!”
He smiled. “No problem.”
“Fany, there you are,” Jessica said, walking over to her. Apparently, the table she and Donghae were tutoring at was right beside them. “Who’s that?”
“This is --,” Tiffany began.
“I don’t care. Let’s go,” Jessica said, pulling her away.
“But I thought we were going to do research. I got these books and --,” Tiffany told her.
“I’m sick of the library. We can do research somewhere else,” Jessica said impatiently, grabbing her arm.
Tiffany looked apologetically at Siwon, who merely smiled, and followed Jessica out of the library. Donghae stood up and walked over to Siwon.
“What were you doing talking to her?” Donghae asked.
“She needed help finding some books,” Siwon explained.
“Really?” Donghae asked in amazement.
Siwon laughed.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
“Come on, Taeng!” Sunny insisted, grabbing onto her arm like a two year old.
“Sunny, you know I’m not a fan of parties,” Taeyeon reminded her. They were in the kitchen, making sandwiches for their picnic that afternoon.
Sunny pouted. “You know I can’t go if you don’t go.”
“I’m sure oppa would agree if Eunhyuk and Sungmin would be there,” Taeyeon said. Their mom usually allowed them to go out. It was Heechul oppa they were afraid of. He usually doesn’t let them go to parties and such unless they’re together and unless they’re with Eunhyuk and Sungmin.
“It won’t be that fun without you,” Sunny then said.
Taeyeon laughed. “Since when was I a fun companion at parties? I’ll talk to oppa for you if you want.”
“Talk to me about what?” Heechul asked, walking in. He gave both of them a kiss on the head.
“Sunny wants to go to a party tomorrow,” Taeyeon shared. “But I don’t want to go.”
“You know the rule,” Heechul told Sunny.
“Oppa,” Sunny said, turning on her aegyo. “Sungmin and Eunhyuk will be there. And you know how protective they are.”
Heechul looked as though he was considering it. “No. Unless Taengoo’s going, you’re not going.”
Sunny looked at Taeyeon with cute, puppy eyes. “Please, Taengoo,” she pleaded as cutely and sincerely as she could.
Taeyeon sighed. “Please don’t do this to me.” She could never resist it when Sunny did that.
“Pleeeeeeease!” Sunny continued.
“Why do you want to go so badly?” Taeyeon grumbled.
“I just want to,” Sunny answered quietly. Then she brightened up again. “So does this mean you’re going?”
Heechul watched in amusement as Taeyeon nodded her head reluctantly. His two sisters really could never resist each other’s requests. Sunny squealed in delight and hugged her sister. Taeyeon laughed.
“Alright then,” Heechul said. “You’re both going. Whose party is it?”
Sunny hesitated. “Just someone from school.” Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at her. When they were upstairs, Taeyeon went into Sunny’s room and asked whose party is was. “Yoona’s.”
“Im Yoona?!” Taeyeon repeated in surprise. Sunny nodded. “Why are we going to her party?”
“Because Sungmin was so excited about it,” Sunny answered. “I want to be there.”
“Are you sure we can go? I mean, are we invited?” Taeyeon asked carefully.
“It’s an open party,” Sunny said simply.
“Does Sungmin know we’re going?” Taeyeon then wanted to know.
“Yes,” Sunny told her. “Eunhyuk’s picking us up at 7.”
“Huh. You were pretty sure that I was coming, weren’t you?” Taeyeon muttered, sitting on the bed.
Sunny smiled. “I need you there, Taeng.”
“Fine fine,” Taeyeon said, standing up. “I hope we don’t regret going.”
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Sunny clapped as soon as they got out of Eunhyuk’s car. They had just arrived at the location of the party, Yoona’s humongous house.
“The lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Taeyeon commented. She turned to Eunhyuk. “How come your house isn’t this nice?”
Eunhyuk laughed. “Very funny. I still can’t believe you’re here,” he said as they entered.
“You and I both,” she said, looking around. As expected, queenkas and kingkas were all present.
“Eunhyukkie! Sungminah!” Shindong greeted, slapping them on their backs. “Hi Taeyeon, Sunny!”
“Hi,” Taeyeon said politely. Sunny smiled.
“Have you seen Yoona?” Sungmin asked Shindong.
“I think she’s by the pool,” Shindong said.
“I’ll look for her,” Sungmin told them and left to Sunny’s surprise.
“Drinks?” Shindong offered as a waiter carrying a tray of drinks passed by.
Taeyeon got one when Eunhyuk stopped her. “You can get a drink at the bar,” Eunhyuk told her, taking the drink for himself.
“The bar’s over there,” Shindong said. “I’ll look for Hankyung. See you guys around.” He left.
“I can handle one drink,” Taeyeon told him as they went to the bar.
“It’s better to drink something that you’ve seen done in front of you,” Eunhyuk told her. “This is a party. You don’t know what’s in that drink.”
Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “I know what happens at parties.”
“Not these kinds of parties,” Eunhyuk said calmly.
“You guys carry on,” Sunny suddenly said. “I’ll look for Sungmin.” She walked away without waiting for a response.
Taeyeon sighed. “I have a feeling things are not going to go well.”
“What do you mean?” Eunhyuk wanted to know.
“Sunny’s here because she wants to watch after Sungmin and Yoona,” she shared.
“Why?” he asked incredulously.
“Well ever since their date, it seems that things are going well between them,” she stated. “I think… Sunny’s jealous.”
He sighed. “I really don’t know what has gotten into Sungmin. I thought he liked Sunny. And out of all of them, why Yoona?”
“Look who’s talking,” she interjected. “You dated Sooyoung.” She chuckled.
“Yes and I learned my lesson,” he responded. “I’m not dating any one of them anymore.”
“What about Yuri? You’re going to break her heart,” she teased. Eunhyuk merely smirked. “Seriously,” Taeyeon went on. “I think you should give her a chance.”
“What?” Eunhyuk said, shocked.
“Why not?” she persisted. “She seems really nice. She made an effort to get to know you better by hanging out with your friends. That was very brave of her.”
“She’s exactly like them,” he declared.
“I don’t think so,” she said thoughtfully. “Besides, I think she sincerely likes you a lot. She’s making a lot of effort to get you to notice her.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head. “My best friend wants me to date a queenka.”
“Well you are a kingka,” she pointed out, smiling. “It’s perfect.” He shook his head in disbelief. “She’s coming over. Good luck!” she cheered, patting his arm and leaving.
“Hey,” Eunhyuk called after her.
“Where’s Taeyeon going?” Yuri asked, surprised at her departure.
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Sunny walked around the house, looking for Sungmin. She knew he would probably be with Yoona, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to see for herself how they were together. In school, they didn’t show any affection towards each other. It was still unbelievable to her that they were going out. What’s even weirder was how Sungmin never talked to her about their relationship. He merely shrugged or laughed when she asked him about it.
“Are you alright?”
Sunny stopped and looked around. She realized that she was on the second floor of the house, where there weren’t many people around. “I’m fine,” she said when Shindong asked her again.
“You look lost,” Shindong commented. “Are you looking for someone?”
Sunny smiled sheepishly. “I’m looking for Sungmin actually.”
“He’s downstairs,” he said. “Come with me.”
Sunny followed Shindong downstairs and into one of the rooms. There was a billiard table and a separate bar. She saw Sungmin talking to Yoona by one of the windows.
“Do you want me to call him?” Shindong asked her.
“No it’s fine,” Sunny said, watching as Sungmin and Yoona laughed together. They seemed to be getting along really well, which completely surprised her. She knew they’d been friends for a long time. But she also knew that Sungmin was uncomfortable with their whole group because they all had attitude problems.
Shindong watched Sunny watch Sungmin and Yoona. “You don’t look good,” he told her.
Sunny turned to him and smiled cheerfully. “I’m fine. Thanks for bringing me here! See you later!” She turned and left the room.
“Hey, where are you going?” Shindong asked, following her. “Weren’t you looking for Sungmin?”
[center]~ * ~[/center]
Kyuhyun laughed as some guys did a crazy dance on top of one of the tables in the veranda. Of course Yoona came sauntering afterwards, making them come down and scolding them.
“Ya Kyu!” Hankyung said, handing him another drink. “Drink some more.”
“I’m fine,” Kyuhyun said, rejecting his offer.
“You look bored,” Jessica observed.
“Yeah, you’re not drinking,” Hankyung said, putting an arm around Jessica.
“I’m alright,” Kyuhyun said. “Where’s Eunhyuk?” he asked Yuri.
Yuri sighed. “I don’t know. I was talking to him and then he disappeared.”
“He’s probably looking for his best friend,” Yoona quipped.
“Alright, you kids just keep on talking amongst yourselves. Sica and I are going somewhere.” Jessica giggled as Hankyung led her away from them.
They then began another discussion on Eunhyuk’s friendship with his best friend when Kyuhyun saw Taeyeon, sitting by herself on the poolside. He excused himself and quietly walked over to her.
“This is a party. You shouldn’t be by yourself,” Kyuhyun said, standing behind her.
“Yeah, well I’m not much of a party person,” Taeyeon answered, even though she wasn’t sure if it was addressed to her.
He chuckled and crouched down beside her. “Why did you come then?”
She looked at him and surprise crossed her features. “I see even the math genius comes to these kinds of parties.”
Chuckling once more, he said, “I’m Kyuhyun.”
“Hmm, I think I prefer math genius better,” she said, smiling.
“You’re not going to tell me your name?” he asked after a couple of seconds of silence.
She laughed. “It’s Taeyeon. What are you doing out here?”
“Just needed to get some fresh air,” he said. “Did you come here alone?”
“I came with some friends,” she answered.
“Who?” he asked.
“Sunny, my sister and - you probably know them - Eunhyuk and Sungmin,” she said. He looked at her in surprise. “You look shocked.” She laughed. “I know it’s weird. They’re both kingkas and they’re best friends with me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “So you hang out with kingkas and queenkas a lot?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Not really. I’m not a fan of those groups.”
“How come?” he pressed.
Shrugging, she said, “I just think that they don’t take anything seriously. And they bully people. You probably know what they’re like. Everyone in school does.”
“Maybe they’re not all like that,” he suggested, watching her carefully.
“Well, Eunhyuk and Sungmin aren’t like that,” she admitted. “I don’t know about the rest of them. I hope I’m wrong.” She looked at him and smiled. “Sorry, I usually only rant like this with Eunhyuk.”
“No, it’s alright. Don’t apologize,” he dismissed, smiling a little. “It’s very refreshing.”
Taeyeon smiled. “How come I never see you around school?”
“Maybe you don’t look hard enough,” Kyuhyun said, chuckling a bit. “You and Eunhyuk must be very close.”
“We grew up together,” she shared. “He’s my best friend. Aside from my sister, of course.”
“Taeyeonah,” Sunny said, approaching them. “There you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She bowed politely at Kyuhyun.
“This is my twin, Sunny,” Taeyeon told Kyuhyun. “And this is Kyuhyun,” she said to Sunny.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kyuhyun said.
“Likewise,” Sunny said, glancing knowingly at Taeyeon.
Kyuhyun stood up. “I’d better get back to the party.” He turned to Taeyeon. “It was nice talking to you.” He smiled at both of them and left.
“So Kyuhyun’s his name,” Sunny said in a singsong voice, openly teasing Taeyeon.
“Stop it,” Taeyeon said, laughing.